Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

COVID restrictions to remain in effect until at least Jan. 21

Jan 7, 2021 | 4:31 PM

EDMONTON, AB – You will have to wait a little bit longer to see some of Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions be relaxed.

Some of the measures introduced in November and December were set to expire on Monday, January 11, but the provincial government says they need more time to see the full effect of Christmas and New Year’s activities on COVID-19 numbers.

With that date now being until at least January 21, it means a delay of almost two weeks.

“The health measures that were put in place in December have helped to reduce the number of active cases, but it’s not enough. Case numbers, hospitalizations and testing positivity rates remain high,” says Premier Jason Kenney.

“We will be carefully evaluating the data over the coming weeks to determine what options we have to give Albertans back more flexibility in their lives, and give businesses a chance to reopen. But the worst thing we could do would be to increase the chances of another surge, which would threaten our health-care system again and require more restrictions. We must be careful and deliberate, and avoid the roller-coaster of uncertainty that a new surge would create.”

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A full list of public health restrictions currently in effect can be seen here.

Kenney also announced Thursday that schools will be able to resume in-person classes on January 11. More details here.

Alberta Health Services also released its update on COVID-19 for Thursday, detailing statistics compiled over the past 24 hours.

968 cases were confirmed across the province, bringing the total to 108,469. Of those, 13,298 cases are active while 93,954 people have recovered.

In the South Zone, 23 people tested positive with six in Lethbridge and five in Cardston County.

Active infections in the region have risen slightly to 252 but fell by a small amount in the city to 80.

Since yesterday’s update, another 24 Albertans have died from COVID including 13 in the Edmonton Zone, nine in the Calgary Zone, and one in the Central Zone.

Provincially, 871 patients are currently hospitalized and 139 have been admitted to intensive care.

With another 14,833 tests conducted over the past day, there has now been a total of 2,888,432 tests done on 1,679,738 people in Alberta.

The provincial breakdown by health zone is as follows:

• Edmonton Zone – 46,386 cases, 5,465 active
  • 646 deaths (13 new)
  • 455 in hospital, 64 in ICU
• Calgary Zone – 41,500 cases, 4,739 active
  • 384 deaths (nine new)
  • 241 in hospital, 48 in ICU
• North Zone – 7,834 cases, 1,384 active
  • 73 deaths
  • 64 in hospital, seven in ICU
• Central Zone – 7,364 cases, 1,381 active
  • 50 deaths (one new)
  • 97 in hospital, 17 in ICU
• South Zone – 5,167 cases, 252 active
  • 63 deaths
  • 19 in hospital, three in ICU

The breakdown for the South Health Zone by community is as follows:

• Brooks – 1,354 cases (one new), 13 active, 14 deaths
• Lethbridge – 1,463 cases (six new), 80 active, nine deaths
  • West Lethbridge – 536 cases (two new), 26 active, two deaths
  • South Lethbridge – 477 cases (two new), 34 active, five deaths
  • North Lethbridge – 450 cases (two new), 20 active, two deaths
• Medicine Hat – 482 cases (three new), 37 active, nine deaths
• Lethbridge County – 457 cases, 35 active, seven deaths
• M.D. of Taber – 319 cases (one new), 15 active, six deaths
• Cardston County – 299 cases (five new), 30 active, six deaths
• County of Warner – 146 cases, three active, two deaths
• County of Newell – 145 cases (two new), seven active, two deaths
• Cypress County – 144 cases (one new), six active, zero deaths
• M.D. of Pincher Creek – 118 cases (one new), 17 active, three deaths
• County of Forty Mile – 114 cases, one active, two deaths
• Fort Macleod – 70 cases (one new), two active, three deaths
• Crowsnest Pass – 12 cases, one active, zero deaths